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Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Candied Sweet Potatoes, Kicked Up

What's your favorite Thanksgiving dish? As far as turkey goes, I'll have the white meat, please. Mashed potatoes? Sure. Gravy? Why not...just a little. Stuffing? No. I'll skip stuffing any day. I know, I'm weird. (I've been told that I made great stuffing-- but I eat just one bite of it). What I really hold out for are sweet potatoes. As a kid, I could hardly wait for sweet potatoes with melted marshmallows, and that golden crust crunch. The best. It wasn't until I was all grown up, that I first made this very recipe, while watching Emeril Lagasse's Food Network show back in 2002. This recipe is for grownups. It has fresh orange juice, vanilla bean and-- bourbon. The funny thing is, I'm not a bourbon drinker. Never have been. But, this recipe has become a regular on my Thanksgiving table, now that my son and his cousin are all grown up. I begin with 8 sweet potatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces. Of course, we need brown sugar.

To me, sweet potatoes and cinnamon are meant for one another. I received a jar of Red Ape Cinnamon a year ago, and I really like it a lot. Is cinnamon just cinnamon? Well, yes, and no.

So, this is the cinnamon that I buy now-- because I admire and respect that their product is all about being sustainable and organic products. I like value and support that.

Two teaspoons of cinnamon, some salt and vanilla bean. Well, folks, I also received a jar of Singing Dog Vanilla Bean Paste from the same lovely folks who sent me Red Ape Cinnamon. That was a year ago, and I have continued to buy this product as well. If you've never used vanilla bean paste, it will become your new best friend.

Vanilla bean paste is thick and tastes just as though you scraped an expensive vanilla bean. Your end product will have those lovely dark flecks of vanilla bean. Trust me. I love Red Dog Vanilla brand, not because I got to try it for free-- I like it because it's also organic, sustainable and it's a quality product.

So, now the potatoes are cooking away with all those lovely note of orange, cinnamon and vanilla.

One they are fork tender, remove the potatoes and place them into an oven-proof dish. We're not through, though. The bourbon! As I said, I don't drink bourbon. So, I buy those small bottles at my local liquor store. (Clever, eh?)

I only need 1/2 cup, which I now add to the sauce. We want to boil the sauce, until it reduces to a syrup. Be prepared, this can take as much as 30 minutes (as opposed to the original recipe).

I like to mark a wooden spoon with a rubber band, so I know where the liquid is at. Then, I can tell how much the syrup has reduced.

The sauce coats the back of a spoon. See? There are the vanilla bean flecks. I told you!

Pour the syrup over the potatoes and then place into a preheated oven at 375F. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until browned. (I would think you could do all these steps a day or two ahead and then bake on Thanksgiving Day.) Remove from the oven and add a butter (I use about 1/2 stick, though the recipe says to use a full stick) until incorporated.

VERDICT: I love these sweet potatoes. Honestly, you don't taste booze. There's almost a caramel flavor, with a hint of bourbon...just a kiss. The balance of orange and sweet vanilla, with the cinnamon is truly a flavor party in your mouth. Anyone who eats these, always raves about them. I don't miss my marshmallows one bit.

All you have to do is leave a comment on my blog page (not my Fan Page), and share what recipe you most love to use vanilla bean or vanilla extract? For a second entry, please like their Fan Page, and leave them a comment that you are entering my giveaway-- and leave an extra comment telling that you did so. I will randomly choose a winner on Sunday, November 20th. Sorry, but I can only ship within the Continental United States. Please be sure that you have an email address so I can contact you-- anonymous comments cannot be accepted. Giveaway Entries have closed. Thank you for entering.

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I am in Canada and can't win the pirze but my new best friend is vanilla bean paste. As for a hearty turkey dinner I have a modest helping of stuffing mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes with a side of turkey:D

These look wonderful. I do like bourbon (in small amounts:-))and I am a huge fan of sweet potatoes. This looks like a great dish for Thanksgiving - I love all of the flavors here.

I would use the vanilla bean paste in some vanilla ice cream. I love seeing the flecks of vanilla...and I would probably serve that over a blondie. These look like great products from a responsible company!

Looks delicious, Debby! YUM. I ordered vanilla beans off ebay, and scaped the inside to use in creme brulee I made. But I'd certainly love to win your giveaway to try it! Thanks for the chance.Best,GloriaP.S. I CANNOT believe you don't like stuffing!!!!!!!! :(

We have a family favorite yam recipe, but this sounds delicious and I'm always willing to try another sweet potato recipe. I'm heading over to Whole Foods to buy some SD Vanilla Bean Paste. I love vanilla, especially in cookies.

Wow this sounds delicious. I am loving cooking with Vanilla, I had a Libby's pumpkin recipe that I have cut down a lot of the sugars on and added more spice, this vanilla sounds perfect for the cream cheese filling!

I would love to use the Vanilla Bean paste with the recipe that you've posted. I love sweet potatoes and I've never heard of this ingredient prior to this post. I want to see what else it out there...maybe using it in a pecan pie?!

Ohhh Debby! Thank you so much for teaming up with Singing Dog Vanilla (and sharing some "to die for" recipes using it!) I think I would totally agree with many others here that homemade vanilla ice cream would be the absolute best, but I'm also intrigued by the idea of trying it in my daily cup of hot chocolate. YUM! We all appreciate the opportunity to hear about "new to us products" and even more when we have a chance to win some of them! Win or not, I'm going to have to make sure I get some Singing Dog Vanilla Paste for my holiday baking!!! Thanks for the opportunity to win!!!

Yum! I love sweet potatoes too and it's always the side dish that I contribute to Thanksgiving. I've never used a recipe, just throw stuff in a bowl and everyone raves about them. Except this year my aunt said she's making them. :-(

Of course because I love them so much, I will be making my own version at home for just me and Mr. H and Hayden too. He'll eventually get to taste them. ha!

I would use the vanilla bean paste in my custard dishes I make and also the vanilla in all of my cakes and pies, would give them all a big boost of genuine vanilla flavor yummeee..Just the opposite of you my dressing, stuffing is well known, now for the sweet potatoes I just bake them up and slather with some orange butter, grate some rind of an orange on mix it with butter and mash the sweet potatoes with the butter..pop them back to get them really hot and voila a tasty side dish to the turkey, dressing(stuffing) mashed spuds with roasted garlic, home made sourdough bread, garlic green beans and cranberry relish ground thru a grinder with other stuff and we are good to go..Happy Thanksgiving Day be sure to relax and enjoy all you will be fixing for the feast..Love your blog..great recipes! from a loyal reader daily Mary Jane S. from momanddad00@clear.net!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What a nice giveaway, Debby. I'm intrigued by that Vanilla Bean Paste and would love to try it. My mom made the most delicious sweet potatoes, but my kids don't care for them so I never make them. You've got my taste buds tingling with all the wonderful flavors in this dish. I may have to make it just for myself.

These sweet potatoes look fabulous! I love cooking with bourbon; therefore, I know I'll love these potatoes! Since I'm not a baker, I guess I would be limited as to what I use vanilla in. However, I make a mean vanilla cardamom french bread. I also have been know to add a touch of rum and vanilla to my breakfast crepes.

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Welcome to my internet kitchen. Please, sit back and relax, and watch me make delicious food and bakery recipes. Most of my recipes are simple, flavorful meals-- and a few baked treats. I focus on using fresh, seasonal ingredients and I try to avoid using boxed mixes and processed foods. I'm having fun learning how to cook like my grandmother once did-- from scratch! I hope that my step-by-step photos will inspire a timid cook to try them. Even if you're a seasoned cook, hopefully you'll learn a new tip or two.

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